L I L L Y

 

Lilly took a moment to survey the traffic before deciding which way to head. She was pretty sure—well, kind of sure—that a right turn would take her to the medical complex (the absolute last place she wanted to go), but from there she knew how to get downtown. If only she had a cellphone and could let Rain know where she was. Maybe Rain would find her way to the bus station, though Lilly had to consider the possibility that she was on her own.

Concerned that her conspicuous height was like a giant neon nametag with flashing arrows—Here’s Lilly!—she slipped into her red hoodie and flung the hood over her head. At least her hair was no longer visible, nor her face in profile. The sleeves were a fraction shorter than they had been, and while Lilly knew what that meant, she didn’t care.

They’d learned in school, from a police officer, that people who walked assertively were less likely to become victims of a crime. So Lilly walked assertively. Cars sped by and she pretended she’d done this a million times and knew exactly where she was going.

“Lilly!”

Fudge. She couldn’t see who was calling her name, but she guessed a TV van had caught up with her. Though tempted to run, she didn’t want to get lost again and when she glanced ahead she recognized where she was: the dreaded medical center was just a few blocks farther. She walked a little faster.

In her peripheral vision a vehicle made a quick U-turn and slowed down beside her.

“Lilly!”

“Leave me alone.”

“Lilly, it’s me!”

Someone she knew? It didn’t sound like someone she knew. But just in case, she peeked around her hood to get a better look at the white van that was cruising alongside her.

There were stickers on the windows and doors. Lightning bolts and skulls and zombies with guitars—and no TV logos; she would’ve remembered if she’d seen it before.

“Can I give you a ride somewhere? You going home?” The van pulled into the parking lane and Lilly finally stopped to look at the driver through the open passenger window.

A young man. With a goofy grin. He used his tongue to twirl a peppermint candy to the other side of his mouth, and that’s when Lilly placed him: the young doctor with the perfect Boy Band hair—though the sunlight brought out the lines around his eyes, making him appear older. Maybe he was closer to her dad’s age than she’d realized. His presence soured her mood and she marched on.

“I’m not going to the hospital,” she said angrily.

He lurched along in his stickered van. “I’m not going there either. I’m done for the day, I was heading home. What’s the problem? What’s going on?”

When she stopped, he braked. She stooped down and considered him. He was part of the enemy team that wanted to turn her into a brainless zombie like the stupid stickers on his stupid van. But dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, tattoos on both arms, he looked less like a doctor and more like the lead singer of a band.

“I’m leaving town,” she said. It wasn’t a secret. “You’re not gonna fudge up my brain.”

He nodded, weighing her words. “I don’t blame you.”

“Really?” His sympathy surprised her.

“Look, I’m a researcher—I specialize in triggers for excessive growth—but I don’t usually work with real people.”

“What do you work with?” Unreal people?

“Mice, usually.”

Something about that made her laugh. Until she imagined him sticking needles into squirming innocent mice.

“Well I’m not an experiment. I’m a real person. There’s somewhere I need to go, where I’ll be accepted just as I am.” She resumed walking. He resumed inching beside her, though sometimes he had to swerve into traffic to get around a parked car.

“That’s cool, I get it—I think I’d feel the same way. So… Am I to infer that you’re running away?”

She held her head high. “Yup.”

“Okay, so can I point out a flaw in your plan? I take it you’re heading for the bus station?”

She stopped again. He stopped too. What was he getting at? What was wrong with her plan? She bent down and peered into the van.

“They’ll look there first,” he said. “It’s the natural place to start. We don’t have a train station, and if you wanted to fly somewhere a person without a car would probably go to the bus station to get out to the airport. If you don’t want to be found, you need to lay low—not do exactly what they expect.”

Hmm. He had a valid point. She surveyed the street—ahead of her, behind her. Where could she go? Could she hide in Rain’s basement for a while? Or would Declan rat her out?

“Lilly, I’d do the same thing if I were you. I wouldn’t want them—or me—mucking about in my head. They’re guessing, because they don’t know what else to do. But you’re right to be skeptical. Let me help you. You can sit in the back—” He gestured behind him. There weren’t any seats, but the floor was carpeted.

“Is that a beanbag?” she asked, spotting the misshapen lump behind the driver’s seat.

“I’ll take you to my place. You can lay low. And then—and I’m not saying you have to—if you change your mind you can call your dad. Or if not…. Tomorrow I can drive you to the bus station the next town over. They won’t be looking for you there.” He flicked a switch and the side door started sliding open.

Lilly wasn’t supposed to get into a stranger’s car. But she wasn’t sure if he counted, seeing how she had weekly appointments where he measured every inch of her body. Her dad trusted him (though he wasn’t acting like a medical professional at the moment). And she appreciated that this one doctor didn’t agree with the others. Which meant he was on her side. Maybe she could call Rain from his place. And maybe they could pick her up tomorrow on their way out of town. This turn of events could be just what she needed.

Certain she wasn’t going to get a better offer of assistance, she clambered into the back of the van. As she got settled on the beanbag, with lots of room to stretch out her legs, the door slid shut.

“What’s your name?” she asked. “I never really paid attention.”

“Well, it would be pretty silly under the circumstances to call me Dr. Kempner. But I don’t like my first name, so my friends call me Stop.” Instead of doing another U-turn, he drove to the next light and made a left, heading around the block. From her spot on the floor, Lilly had a good view through the windows. Perhaps it was the candy in his mouth, but she had the impression that the whole van reeked of peppermint.

“Stop? That’s kind of different.”

“Trust me, it’s better than my actual name.” He gave her a wink in the rearview mirror. “It’s a long story,” he said, navigating away from downtown, picking up speed as they merged onto the highway. “Make yourself comfy, I live about forty minutes outside of town. Hungry?”

“Always.” He tossed her a nut bar. “Thanks.”

He turned up the music. It was a little too head-banging, and sounded more like screaming than singing, but it had a kind of thunder to it that made Lilly feel powerful. She nodded along, and met his grin in the rearview mirror.

“You’re a cool girl, Lilly.”

“Thank you.” For the first time in a long time Lilly felt like maybe everything was going to be okay. She was a cool girl. And while she wasn’t fully sure why Stop was helping her, perhaps his name revealed it: he was on a mission to stop the bad guys from carrying out their brain-carving experiments. It was easy to imagine herself with a jack-o-lantern head, an empty smile fixed in place after their tinkering went awry. Whatever his reasons, he was helping her get

away. And away was where she needed to go.